Failure to reproduce the effect of procedural memory interference on wakeful consolidation of episodic memory in younger and older adults

Abstract

Brown and Robertson (2007) revealed that skill learning interferes with the wakeful consolidation of episodic memories in young adults. This finding is commonly used as evidence that episodic and procedural memories should not be learned in close temporal proximity but has not been reproduced by an independent laboratory. Additionally, older adults experience episodic memory deficits, but it is unknown whether this group is also vulnerable to this type of interference. We aimed to reproduce Brown and Robertsons (2007) finding in younger adults, while also comparing the magnitude of interference between younger and older adults. Forty younger (18-40 years; n =20) and older adults ([≥]55 years; n = 20) visited the laboratory in the morning and acquired episodic memories (a list of words) immediately before a procedural finger-tapping (procedural) task. Half of all participants were exposed to a learnable sequential structure. In the afternoon of the same day, participants were asked to recall the episodic memories from the morning session. We found weak evidence of interference for both age groups and no statistical difference in interference between groups. Our results suggest that the interfering effects of these memory types may be negligible or overestimated, and that these memory types can be acquired together without interference.